SSTI Digest

South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds announced that Jim Hagen will resign as secretary of the Department of Tourism and State Development, effective Jan. 17.

David Hollister announced he will leave his position as director of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth on Feb. 3, to head Prima Civitas, a newly formed nonprofit agency promoting economic development.

Bill Mahoney is the new president of the South Carolina Research Authority.

Guin Robinson is the new director of the newly created Talladega office of the Alabama Technology Network.

Phillip Singerman resigned as executive director of the Maryland Technology Development Corp.. Renee Winsky will serve as interim executive director until a permanent replacement is named.

Georgia Tech announced that Dr. Jeffrey Skolnick will join its faculty this spring as the Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Computational Systems Biology.

The Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development appointed Benjamin Wu as the assistant secretary for the Capital Region and senior advisor for technology policy.

To develop and promote higher education research facilities and faculty in Virginia, Gov. Mark Warner proposed $218.8 million in his fiscal year 2006-08 biennial budget proposal for investment in university R&D. In response, state institutions of higher education have pledged to match the governor's proposal with a $299 million commitment.

The funding allows for the hiring of top researchers in the fields of biomedical science, biomaterials engineering, nanotechnology, and modeling and simulation, whose presence will attract more grant-funded research to the Commonwealth, according to the governor's office. In addition to having economic benefits, the initiative also invests in the search for cures for cancer, diabetes, tuberculosis, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, the governor said.

Nearly 40,000 people in 120 countries have placed deposits with the British commercial space company for the opportunity to become tourists in space, according to Virgin Galactic. Last Tuesday, New Mexico's governor said he wants the state to spend $100 million over the next three years to help get them there.

Gov. Bill Richardson and Virgin Companies chairman Richard Branson announced the world's first spaceport designed for personal spaceflight will be built on 27-square miles of state land in southern New Mexico, at an estimated total cost of $225 million. The package includes development of Virgin Galactic's world headquarters, to be built underground, as well as the above-ground runway and support buildings.

Following months of debate that ended in a veto last month by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, an agreement was made last week on a $600 million tax relief package for businesses, which now awaits the governor's anticipated signature. Gov. Granholm signed into law the $1 billion Job Creation Fund last month, but rejected a package of tax cuts over a disagreement on two of the bills (see the Dec.5 issue of the Digest).

One of the most critical federal partners involved either directly or indirectly in determining the success of most state tech-based economic development strategies seeks input from the science and engineering (S&E) community in the development of its next five-year plan.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is one of the federal government's most important resources for encouraging scientific inquiry, technological advancement, innovation and discovery, providing approximately 20 percent of all federal support for basic research conducted by America's colleges and universities. The independent agency also has been responsible for the design and development of programs integral to most state and local tech-based economic development efforts, programs such as EPSCoR, SBIR/STTR, Partnerships for Innovation, and the Engineering Research Centers, to note a few.

On paper, the Jan. 4 FedEx Rose Bowl, which pits the Universities of Texas and Southern California against each other, will decide college football's national champion. On the same playing field therein will be teams from two states trying to tackle something of a slightly different nature - the need for a talented, educated and diverse workforce to support regional economies built on high-paying jobs.

Los Angeles Receives Plan for Building Tech Talent, Businesses

The City of Los Angeles must do more to bridge the gap between its high-tech, research-oriented assets and its low-skilled immigrant workforce if its economy is to grow into the global powerhouse city leaders envision, one recent study finds.